To enable depth of field:
Go to Render Settings > Corona > Camera/Postprocessing > Depth of field and check "Enable"
It can also be enabled via the Corona camera tag without the need of entering the render settings.
Focal point distance
To determine focal point distance, you can use the pointer tool found in the settings of the C4D camera and select what object the camera will be focused on.
Alternatively, you can either drag your object into the object slot or use the pointer tool again to choose the focus target.
Photographic Exposure Controls
Depth of field is affected by photographic exposure controls. For example, the wider the aperture is open ie: F1.8, the more light that is let into the camera and hitting the sensor. More light entering a camera will result in a more pronounced (shallow) DoF effect and a brighter image overall. Stopping the lens down to F22 will decrease the amount of light that passes through the lens resulting in a sharper yet darker image and the DoF effect will be less noticeable.
Depth of Field Quality
The quality of depth of field is mainly dependent on anti-aliasing (AA samples). To focus computing power more on anti-aliasing than on GI-sampling, you can decrease the "GI vs. AA balance" value to about 4-8.
The Corona Camera Tag is recommended
For the easiest control of Depth of Field, it is recommended to use a Corona Camera Tag on your camera. For example, F-stop settings from the native Cinema 4D camera will not affect DoF.
Troubleshooting
DoF effect is too weak, everything is sharp even if I set very low f/stop values such as 0,1
This may be caused by using a wrong scene scale. Incorrect units may be used. The dimensions of objects in the scene should correspond to the size of the camera's sensor width. If you are, for example, using millimeters instead of meters (or vice versa), you need to either rescale the scene or set the camera's sensor size to corresponding units (for example meters instead of millimeters).
Examples
1. F-stop
As in photography, increasing the F-stop value will make the "dof" effect more subtle. Decreasing the F-stop value will make it more pronounced.
1.1 F-stop = 2 - pronounced DoF effect
1.2. F-stop = 4
1.3. F-stop = 16 - subtle DoF effect
2. Target distance
2.1. Camera target placed on the rear end 20 marker:
2.2. Camera target placed in the center (on the Corona logo):
2.3. Camera target placed close to the camera on the front 20 marker:
3. Sensor size
Sensor size also affects the appearance of the DoF effect. Increasing it makes the DoF effect more pronounced. Note: in Cinema 4D, changing the Sensor Size keeps the Focal Length static and automatically changes the Field of View; be sure to reset your Field of View after changing Sensor Size if you want to retain the same composition in your image.
3.1. F-stop=4, Sensor width=35mm
3.2. F-stop=4, Sensor width=100mm
4. Bokeh
Bokeh type
4.1. Circular:
4.2. Bladed:
4.3. Custom 1:
4.4. Custom 2:
4.4. Custom 3: "fake chromatic aberrations"
Advanced Bokeh Effects: Bokeh center bias = 1
Center bias = 1, Vignetting = 2
Vignetting = -2
Bokeh Anisotropy = 0.5
Bokeh Anisotropy = -0.5
Fisheye Camera and DOF
Starting with Corona 9, it is possible to Enable the Depth of Field in a Fisheye Camera. Simply create a Corona Camera, go to the attribute panel, open the Camera Projection, and set Type to "Fisheye":
Scene Setup:
Render: